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Janoska Ensemble to perform at Lewis Auditorium

The concert is part of the EMMA Concert Series

The EMMA Concert Association will present the Janoska Ensemble in concert at 2 p.m. Sunday at Flagler College’s Lewis Auditorium, 14 Granada St.

The Janoska Ensemble, composed of brothers Ondrej (violin), Frantisek (piano) and Roman (violin) and their brother-in-law Julius Daravas (double bass), is steeped in classical music, drawing on instrumental traditions that were passed down in the Janoska family.

The group is equally comfortable riffing on Paganini with dueling violins playing the original score and an improvised jazz variation, taking a Johann Strauss waltz and mixing in strains of czardas and Balkan folk tunes or composing an original rumba that harkens back to Mozart.

Their interpretations trace each work back to its source of inspiration yet makes each piece thoroughly modern.

“Our challenge is to create something the original composer would be proud of,” Frantisek, who does the arranging for the group, says.

But that doesn’t mean the group doesn’t allow room for its own vision to shine through.

“Artistic license is very important to us in all the pieces we play,” Roman says. “It allows us to continuously create new versions and that is what constitutes Janoska style.”

The ensemble has toured worldwide, with concerts in Toronto, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Seoul, Munich and Vienna under its belt.

“We have been making music together since we were kids,” Ondrej says. “But while the Janoska style has childhood roots, each of us has traveled down his own musical path.”

In fact, they all completed training in Vienna, studying as soloists and performers with numerous orchestras and ensembles. They have also appeared with the likes of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra/Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna Art Orchestra, Anna Netrebko, the Roby Lakatos Ensemble, Michel Camilo, Julian Rachlin and B.B. King.